Pranked
by ElleEm89
Summary: Sometimes office pranks escalate way too quickly.


**Enjoy!**

It started with a pen. Just one. A simple, black pen, one that Steve had come into the habit of using when doing the paperwork at the end of a case.

It hadn't even been done on purpose. Danny, who had been in Steve's office at the time, had grabbed it to fill out a form, then left with it. He hadn't even noticed what he'd done.

"Either of you take my pen?" Steve asked, passing Chin and Kono in the hallway.

Both met him with quizzical looks. "Your pen?" asked Chin.

"Uh, no," said Kono, wondering if "pen" was code for something that would have actually mattered if it had been missing.

"No," said Chin. Steve frowned and walked away.

Chin and Kono made their way into the main room where Danny was standing at the smart table, making notes.

"Where's the boss?" he asked them. "He needs to fill some of this out."

"He's undergoing an important personal case," said Kono. "His pen's disappeared."

"Oh, this?" Danny held up the pen he was using. "I got this from his office."

"Well, apparently he wants it back," said Chin, unable to hold a smile.

Danny looked to the doors for a moment, seemed to make a decision, and went into Steve's office. The cousins watched through the glass walls as he carefully balanced the pen on the top of a frame of a picture of a naval ship hanging on the wall. He casually left just as Steve came in.

"Steve, buddy, you've gotta fill this out," said Danny, holding out a paper to him.

"Just a minute," he said impatiently, without looking at him.

"Looking for something, Boss?" asked Kono innocently.

"My pen," he nearly snapped, coming to stand in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, looking around the space, frustrated.

"Oh, right!" said Danny, pointing at him. "I put that back in your office."

Steve's face brightened. "You did?"

"Yep. Just now. Sorry, I forgot I had it."

"No problem." He walked into his office.

Chin and Kono couldn't hold in their laughter, although they tried. The three of them watched, amused, as Steve first looked on his desk, then in the drawers, and then finally, on the floor. He very nearly stormed out of the office. "Danny, where is it?"

"What?"

"My pen!"

"I put it back in your office."

"No you didn't! I can't find it anywhere."

"Well, maybe you're not looking hard enough."

Steve's face took on such a murderous glare that Kono actually took a step back. "Danny," Chin said quietly.

Steve stared at Danny. "You hid it," he accused, pointing a finger at him. "You know how I am about pens that start to run out of ink, and I finally get one that works perfectly, and you hide it!"

Danny could hold in a smile no more. "All right," he laughed. "Yes, yes, I hid it. But I promise you: it is in your office. Now you just have to find it."

Steve glared at him for a moment longer, then turned and stormed into his office, trying not to look like he was having the trouble he was looking for the simple object.

"He's really having a hard time with this," Chin observed as they all watched.

"Yeah, what's up with that anyway?" asked Kono.

"I don't know, it's his weird pen thing," said Danny. "I saw him once using a pen that ran out of ink while he was in the middle of writing something, and he literally broke it in half, like some Neanderthal."

They watched as Steve gave up all pretense of being calm and pulled a drawer forcefully out of his desk.

"Come on, Danny, go tell him where it is."

"Uh-uh. No, for two reasons. One, it keeps him busy and out of trouble. And two," he paused. Steve began pulling books off his shelf. "Two, it's just too damn funny."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Later that afternoon, Steve quickly came into Chin's office. Chin immediately noticed his body language, and how he watched the windows around them. He said quietly, "I need you to suggest to Danny that you two go out and pick up lunch. Do not say it was my idea."

Chin raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do it, and I'll get you a raise. I swear to God." He quickly left.

Chin sighed, knowing this would be good for no one. He left his office and walked into Danny's.

"Hey man," he said.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Danny.

"Starving. Wanna go pick up something, bring it back for everybody?"

"Yeah, sure. I gotta get out of this office for a while."

The two of them left a moment later. Steve watched them leave from his office, then quietly stared at his desk, waiting.

He waited less than a minute. Before even he could become impatient, Danny stormed back into the office, Chin following, looking like he wasn't sure whether to be concerned or amused.

"You!" Danny yelled, loud enough to be heard into Steve's office.

Steve looked up, feigning surprise, and walked out the door. "What?" he asked, joined by Chin and Kono.

"You know what!"

"Guys, what's going on?" asked Kono.

"He stole my car!"

"What? That's ridiculous!" Steve threw back.

"Oh! Oh, it's 'ridiculous', is it? Not, 'Your car is missing? How did that happen?' But '_ridiculous?'_"

Steve began to smirk. Danny's face turned red with rage, but his voice was considerably quieter when he spoke.

"Where is my car."

"Where's my pen."

The two met eyes, both expressions now serious. Steve folded his arms across his chest. Danny's hand clenched into a fist.

"You're an animal."

"You're a pen thief."

"I will find my car. I will find it without your help."

"And I will find my pen."

"Says the man who tore his office inside out and still can't find it."

"Maybe I can't. But someone else can. Kono, you've got the rest of the day off to help me find my pen. If you do, I'll get you a raise."

Chin wondered for a moment if the governor knew that Steve often promised raises for trivial personal matters.

"Fine. She can find your pen. But when she does, then she's gonna—" He stopped suddenly. Pointed a finger at Kono, whose eyes went wide. "You!"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"And you!" Danny yelled, pointing a finger at Steve. "You're in on it together!"

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked him.

"How would you steal a car and then get back here all by yourself? I know—you wouldn't! You had help! And I know it was her and not Chin because I saw Chin in his office all morning. Car thieves!" He pointed back and forth from Steve to Kono.

Steve sighed. "Okay, she helped me. But it was my idea."

"Kono, where is my car?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, why won't you tell me?"

She glanced pointedly over at Steve.

"Wait, what was that?" Steve demanded. Then, "Wait! You know where my pen is, don't you!"

"Kono, just tell everybody where their things are, and let's move on," Chin said.

"No!" Danny all but yelled. "You can't tell him where his pen is!"

"Fine!" Steve yelled back. "Then she can't tell you where your car is!"

Kono raised her hands in a "Help me!" gesture to Chin.

"Sorry, cuz."

"Kono, where is my pen?"

She signed. "I can't tell you."

"Okay, where is my car?"

She shook her head.

"Chin Ho Kelly," Steve said formally to him. "As my teammate and friend, do you know where my pen is?"

Chin looked at the floor.

"Oh my God!"

"Sorry, Steve. It just didn't seem like that big of a deal."

But Steve wasn't angry. He walked up to Chin and whispered something quickly to him.

"There," Steve said to Danny. "Now he knows where the car is too."

There was silence among the four. "So now what?" Chin asked a moment later.

In response, both Steve and Danny turned and stormed into their offices, pounding their feet and slamming the doors behind them.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

"Why am I so tired?" Kono asked in the conference room later on, where they were going over the plan for an upcoming event of the governor's they had to attend.

"Decaf," Danny answered nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Decaf," he said, looking at her this time.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You've been drinking decaf all afternoon."

"No I haven't! It's regular, like always."

"Not since I switched it when you refused to tell me where my car is."

Kono's mouth dropped open. "What?" she all but yelled.

"Oh, and for helping Steve steal it," he said. Chin and Steve watched the scene, half amused and half frightened. Kono drank more coffee than all of them combined.

They watched as she reached out and slapped Danny on the arm. "Ow!" he said, but he was smiling.

She stood up. "I'm going to make some real coffee."

"You could do that. But just so you know, I mixed it all up. So you might just go in there and make yourself another pot of decaf. Who knows."

Kono stared a hole through him until he said, "And I'll switch it back when you go get my car."

She mouthed soundlessly at him. Then finally she said, "Chin, come help me get the car."

"No!" Steve yelled. "My pen's still missing!"

"Sorry, cuz," he said. "I'm not the one who stole it."

Steve and Danny watched as Chin looked calmly back at Kono, immune to her death glare.

Suddenly, she grabbed Danny's sleeve and pulled him out of his chair. For one wild moment Steve thought she was going to hit him, but she pulled him out of the room. "Come with me," she said, leaving no room for debate.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

The next morning, Chin walked into headquarters, pushed open his office door, and threw his keys on his desk, like always. Only this morning, there was no desk to catch them. In fact, the entire office was empty.

He paused, unmoving, staring into the empty space, devoid of anything except his keys on the floor. Then after a moment, he turned and walked out.

He was the first one there, and waited patiently for everyone else to arrive. Steve got there first.

"Morning," he said, then noted Chin's expression. "Everything okay?"

"My office is gone," he said calmly, eyeing Steve suspiciously.

Steve looked to the room. "Oh, man," he said, walking over to it. He stepped into the empty room. "Everything's gone!"

"Did you do it?"

"No! Chin, I swear I didn't."

At that moment, Kono and Danny came in together. They didn't even bother hiding their laughter as they saw Chin and Steve in the empty office.

Chin calmly left the room, Steve following.

"What the hell did you do?" Chin asked in an even voice.

"Got you back," Kono said proudly.

He raised a hand in a questioning motion and asked, just a bit of frustration seeping into his voice, "For what?"

"Uh, for not helping me with the car yesterday for one," she said.

"But you worked with Danny! He switched your coffee!"

"You didn't tell me where my car was!" Danny accused. "I saw Steve tell you right in front of me."

Chin sighed. "Okay, this is ridiculous. Danny, your car is in an overnight garage on 14th Street, near the bank. Steve, your pen is on top of your framed picture behind your desk. Kono, Danny marked all the decaf containers with a red dot on the bottom of the cans. Now where is my office?"

He was met with three incredulous stares. "Informant," said Steve. Danny shook his head at him. "Not telling."

"All right," Chin said calmly. "Kono, this was your idea. You can share an office with me until you decide to tell me where mine is." He walked past her and into her office. "And I get the chair with arms!" he called back.

"No! Chin, I have to sit there! I can't work unless I sit there!" She followed him into the office.

Steve and Danny were left to themselves.

"On top of a picture frame? That's the best you could do?"

"Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't find it."

"Yeah, and you didn't find your car."

"Wow. A car in a city versus a pen in an office. Yeah, it's exactly the same thing, you're right."

They turned to watch Chin and Kono arguing loudly from her office. It appeared he had put his feet on her desk and she was not happy with it.

"Wanna go get your car?" asked Steve.

"Yeah," Danny said quickly, as they left the office together.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Danny and Steve were just walking through the doors to HQ when they heard it.

"We'll just have to talk to the guys when they get back then!"

"Fine by me!"

They walked hesitantly into the room. Chin and Kono were standing on either side of the smart table, hands on hips, glaring at one another.

"Uh, hey guys," Steve said hesitantly. "What's up?"

"We've got something to talk to you about before we get our next case," said Chin.

Steve and Danny waited.

"We can't be partners anymore."

Steve looked from one to the other. Danny motioned between them. "Wait, what? We leave for twenty minutes, you guys all of the sudden can't stand each other?"

"He's always acting like I don't know what I'm doing!" Kono accused.

"And _she_ never listens to me!" Chin shot back, finally raising his own voice.

"Okay, okay, guys," said Steve, motioning with his hands for them to calm down. It was very unsettling seeing the two of them fighting. "Listen. If that's how you feel, we can reassign for a little while, okay?"

"Good," said Kono. "Which of you am I with?"

"Uh, I don't know. Give me some time to think about it, okay?"

"Let's see," said Chin. "Which of you is least likely to try and correct her when she's wrong? That's probably the best match."

"Hmm," said Kono, "Which of you feels that you need someone hovering over you and treating you like a child? Because that's the person who should partner with Chin!"

Steve and Danny stared at the two, at a loss for words. Kono turned, frustrated, and went into her office. Chin turned after a moment to go into the conference room, where it seemed he had set up a temporary working space.

Steve and Danny looked at each other. "What the hell just happened?" Steve asked.

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Danny had soon taken refuge in Steve's office, in an attempt to escape the tension outside. Steve sat at his desk, his favorite pen in his hand. Danny paced back and forth.

"This is bad," he said, sounding genuinely saddened. It was hours later, and neither Chin nor Kono showed any sign of not being angry at the other.

"Yeah, I know," Steve replied in the same tone. "It seems like this may have been going on for a while. Although I didn't see it."

"Me either."

"How do you think we should pair up?"

"I don't know. Either way is fine with me."

"Well, I can't choose."

"Okay," said Danny. "C or K?"

Steve stared at him. Danny laughed just a little before saying, "A or B?"

"B."

"You're with Kono then."

He nodded. "Okay. Let's go tell them."

They gathered Chin and Kono in the main area. Both had their arms crossed and wouldn't look at the other.

"Okay," said Steve. "So we decided that Kono, you're with me, and Chin, you're with Danny. But just until we work this out."

Kono made a noise of frustration and rolled her eyes. Chin looked away from them all.

"Guys, it really can't be that bad," Steve tried.

Suddenly, Kono threw her hands up and turned away. She covered her face with her hand, and a sound like crying came from behind it.

Steve and Danny both exchanged horrified glances. Both started to her, stopped, and then pointed in rapid succession from themselves to each of their new partners, and went to them. Danny gave Chin a sympathetic look while Steve awkwardly patted Kono on the shoulder.

"You know, you guys have known each other your whole lives," said Danny. "You're friends. Don't let some stupid fight wreck all that."

"He's right," said Steve. "Listen, you guys want to leave for a while? Go talk someplace else?"

"Can't," said Kono. "The governor wants the paperwork by tomorrow."

"Don't worry about the paperwork," said Steve. "We'll take care of it."

"Yeah, you two just go do whatever you need to, okay?" said Danny, hope in his voice.

"Okay." Chin said quietly. He and Kono silently left the office, not looking at one another.

"Well," said Steve. "Maybe they'll fix things."

"Yeah, I hope so," said Danny. "I can't do double paperwork all the time."

**-H50-H50-H50-**

Three hours later, Chin and Kono arrived back at HQ. Danny and Steve met them almost as soon as they stepped through the doors.

"Well?" Steve asked expectantly.

"Don't bombard them the minute they get back," Danny scolded. He turned to Chin and Kono. "How did it go? Is everything back to normal? You guys work everything out?"

They exchanged a glance. They seemed to be doing that thing where they communicated with their eyes in a way that left Steve and Danny clueless as to what they were talking about. Steve swore they had once had an entire conversation in front of him, about him, and he had no clue what was said.

Kono raised an eyebrow at Chin. He tilted his head at her. She narrowed her eyes slightly. He closed his and then opened them.

Steve and Danny watched this for a moment. They were both about to open their mouths when both cousins nodded to each other, waited, and burst out laughing.

Danny and Steve looked at them, mouths open. "What?" they both demanded at the same time. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry guys, but we got you both," said Kono, openly laughing.

Chin made to respond, but couldn't control his own laughing behind his hand.

Steve and Danny stared at them, then looked to each other. "What?" they both demanded.

"Wait a minute," said Steve, pointing a finger at them both. "This was all a joke?"

They nodded, eyes tear-filled from laughing.

"All of it? The whole fight?"

They nodded again, then burst out laughing once more.

Steve turned, frustrated, while Danny continued to stare at them. When he turned back, he said, "We were really worried about you two!"

"What's the matter with you?" asked Danny, looking disbelievingly at the pair.

Steve suddenly snapped his fingers and turned to Danny. "This was all a ploy to get us to do their paperwork!"

"Oh my God, that's right! Never trust these two, Steven. They're evil."

"Why the hell would you go through all this?"

Chin and Kono exchanged a look again. "To show who the real masters are at pulling pranks," said Kono.

"You thought stealing a car was a big deal?" asked Chin.

"We just got you two to do hours of monotonous paperwork for a case we all took part in."

"And we got an afternoon off."

"Wow," said Danny, although a smile was starting to pull on the corners of his mouth. "Wow." He reached out and punched Chin on the shoulder, although it wasn't hard. "Jerks."

"No kidding," said Steve. But even he was beginning to smile.

"Never switch my coffee again," Kono warned Danny, smiling.

He raised his hands. "Never, your Highness."

"So did you get all the paperwork done?" asked Kono.

"Actually," said Steve, "we caught a case in the middle of it. We really only got about halfway through it."

Kono's smile disappeared. "Oh," she said. But she was too quick and caught the grin that Steve sent Danny.

"Liar!" But she was smiling again.

"Winner," Steve corrected.

"I should steal your pen for that."

**The End**

**I'd love to hear what you think, and thanks for reading!**


End file.
